Brand Management Success From Within

Derrick DayeSeptember 23, 20103 min

It’s with no surprise that your ability to build a strong brand is greatly influenced by the decision makers around you. The answers to a few obvious questions are very revealing. Is your CEO the primary brand champion? Does your CFO understand the importance of investing in building the brand? Does the head of your Human Resources department support the effort of building the brand from the inside out? I hope you can say ‘yes’ to each of those. When we look at leading brands we find management teams that have fostered a culture of brand building where every employee understands their brands promise and are prepared to help deliver on it. Within this culture is a framework where specific roles and responsibilities are in place to ensure the brand management function is successful. It looks like this:

Key principles for a successful brand management function:

  • The CEO should be the primary brand champion
  • The CEO should designate a senior level person responsible for organization-wide, global brand management
  • That person should have a brand identity manager report to him or her. The brand identity manager would chair a brand identity council responsible for managing the consistent and accurate identity of the brand across all uses. The council should be comprised of people throughout the enterprise who most often work with the brand’s identity.  That group is likely to include several people from marketing.  Over time, that group would become a self-policing brain trust for the brand’s identity.
  • All employees should be educated and motivated to become brand champions. They all should be able to articulate the brand’s elevator speech at a minimum.

Chief Brand Champion/Brand Manager Competencies

  • Strong ability to influence behaviors and perceptions without formal authority
  • Respected throughout the organization
  • Strong written and verbal persuasion skills
  • Adequate analytical skills
  • Customer research experience
  • Good project management skills

Brand Manager Responsibilities

  • Monitor, measure and manage brand equity/strength
  • Increase brand awareness, relevant differentiation, value, accessibility and emotional connection
  • Develop brand plan
  • Monitor progress against brand plan
  • Be responsible for results against brand plan
  • Drive brand understanding and support throughout the organization
  • Champion/drive initiatives that support delivery of the brand promise
  • Brand messaging – elevator speech, tagline, campaign themes, proof points, etc.

Brand Identity Manager Competencies

  • Strong ability to influence behaviors and perceptions  without formal authority
  • Respected throughout the organization
  • Likable
  • Assertive
  • Can say “no” in a nice way
  • Some understanding of brand identity standards and systems

Brand Identity Manager Responsibilities

  • Manage the brand architecture
  • Maintain brand identity consistency
  • Chair the brand identity council/team/board
  • Help determine identities for new brands/sub-brands
  • Anticipate and accommodate new brand identity needs

How well is your organization equipped for successful brand management? Not so well? Address this. The strength of your brand depends on it.

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